Setting up Re Aphrodite

So yesterday it was setting up day for Re Aphrodite exhibition and even though it was extremely hot (my mum's car thermometer temperature reading was 44C!) it went pretty smoothly. The only thing I had to do was take Lady Alchymia to the museum and say whether it looked ok at the end when the museum officials and guards put it in the display. There was a lot of waiting around since we had to get permission to open the cabinet and certain people had to be present since it is full of expensive historic jewellery.

 I've never seen my work exhibited in this way and I'm still a bit unsure as to whether I like it or not. The exhibition organisers wanted the artists to work with the museum's artefacts and they really liked the idea of exhibiting the piece in this way. I guess I haven't really seen my work exhibited in a museum cabinet before! Ideally I would prefer to have it framed on that amazing textured wall but we are not allowed to drill any holes - interfere with the wall.

The opening is on the 4th of July so feel free to come if you are in Nicosia!

Re Aphrodite exhibition

I've been asked to take part in a rather unique exhibition in Cyprus which I'm excited about! The main reason is the space.  I sort of had an idea of what it looked like since it is a historic building and I went there with school (primary school so as you can imagine that was not very recent) but today I visited the place again and was very impressed.

The building used to be the house of a Christian-Othoman dragoman in the 18th century and is now a museum. There are numerous historic exhibits in the museum and new contemporary pieces by Cypriot artists will be created and exhibited alongside. I'm really pleased I got chosen to take part and look forward to seeing my work exhibited in such a beautiful historic building.

The idea was that some artists were going create pieces based on the building's history but unfortunately I did not have the chance to do that since I was away so I'm exhibiting Lady Alchymia.
One of the many amazing features of the house is that there is a secret passage which sort of looks like a wardrobe (it even has some steps that lead outside) which is the place from there the dragoman actually escaped from when he was chased by .... I forgot who but anyway in the end they found him somewhere in Turkey and decapitated him. He was not the nicest person though so...

Cat on a plane

I apologise for the lack of posts...I had quite a lot to do in the last week and now I can finally relax a bit! Transporting my cat from England to Cyprus proved out to be a mission, it was a very stressful experience and I honestly do not recommend it to anybody. He is still hiding under the bed now and comes out to explore the room every now and then.
I finally managed to move out of my house and studio in Brighton and have a couple of days to rest now at last!

Newton physics After Effects plug-in

So tempted to get this physics animation plug-in for After Effects...the animation is almost hypnotizing!

I'm moving out of my studio and my house which is quite stressful. My everyday structure/routine is changing which, on one hand is amazing since I felt a bit stuck in Brighton and on the other a bit challenging cause I don't know what's to come. I will have another studio in Cyprus for the summer and then move to London in September to be a full time student once again.

Stanley Coll

I discovered Stanley Coll's paintings on facebook today and they immediately drew my attention. I love their colors, atmosphere and naive perspective. Unfortunately I did not manage to find much information about him online apart from the fact that he was born somewhere in the 1950s. You can see more of his work here.

Lorn - Ghosst(s)

This makes me want to learn how to do hand drawn animation!

I am moving out of my studio soon which is strange...and I still can't believe I'm going to be a student again!

Tom Edwards

Check out Tom Edwards' work on It's Nice That here. Tom and I were in the same class at Brighton Uni and we both share a love for medieval art and Pieter Bruegel! If you are in London don't hesitate to go and see the real pieces at Beach Gallery. You can see more of Tom's work here.

I just finished a commission today which proved out to be a bit tricky. Sometimes in spite of the fact that people state clearly what they want it is easy to get carried away and just do your own thing, what you are used to. That is why it is nice to work for other people and learn from them! Will post the illustration as soon as it is published!

Aubrey de Grey documentary

I've been working on an illustration commission and because my mind always wonders when I draw I enjoy playing documentaries at the background. I watched four documentaries yesterday and a bit of tennis and two documentaries today. The most shocking one was the one above about Aubrey de Grey's theories of repairing cell damage and extending human life.

I definitely do not want to live for 500 years and I believe death is part of a bigger picture and that even though it might appear tragic to begin with, it is a wonderful thing...like sleep! This documentary made me think a lot and probably one day we will indeed have longer life spans (since life expectancy is a lot higher now than what it used to be 300 years ago) but there is something quite unsettling about it all.